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Sunday, March 31, 2013

As a pregnant woman, a crowded elevator is the last thing I want to be on. I once was on an elevator
with a dog and the smell was so pungent that I literally had to get off on the next floor. I was pregnant with my daughter back then and everything smelled so strong. I learned my lesson and so this time around if I see a packed elevator, I'm not going to squeeze into any space. Women who bathe in perfume or the cigarette smoker is so common these days that my stranger radar is on high alert when I see a crowded elevator. On top of that, I kind of like to avoid the trivial conversations that seem to occur on these minute trips too. I'm almost 9 months pregnant and no I do not feel like discussing my due dates and to make polite conversation at the moment.

I know I know people are trying to be polite, but remember my Valentine's comment about me being a raging wildebeest? Well when you start packing on the baby weight and can barely manage to get out of the chair, your last concern are polite conversation with complete strangers. People will tell you are glowing, but sometimes thats not how you feel at all. The back pain, the waddling, the constant hunger, the varicosity issues, and the swollen feet are just a few of the daily joys of pregnancy. Top that with a toddler in tow and you have your hands completely full.

I guess I'm telling you all of this especially if you are pregnant that you should know your limits. What can you handle for the day? If a marathon shopping trip while pregnant does not sound appealing, why say yes to that friend of yours? It is okay to say no and mine is crowded elevators. My husband did tell me there was plenty of room and maybe there was, but six people on an elevator is too crowded for me. I chose to do it my way. I decided I would go on the very empty escalator that was so nice and roomy!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

As a mommy, my car looks like a mini-bomb went off in it. I admit I give my daughter her favorite mango snacks while we are in the car and so I'll find those mango bags in the car of course usually empty. Well I have started to realize I miss my cleaner looking car so in a quick inspiration, I decided I would get rid of the trash every time I filled up my car. Now I do I have the recyclables and I just put those together and when I get home, I put those in the recycle bin. All the other items though end up in the trash before I get home. If I have time, I take inventory how many diapers I have and try to reorganize her little go bag in the car. I am not suggesting spending a lot of time on cleaning out your car, but 2-3 minutes each time does add up and should help with your sanity. As for getting the carpets vacuumed, the last time I went for an oil change they did that for me. They didn't get every nook or cranny, but it definitely looks a lot better than it did before. So take two minutes while you are pumping gas, grab the trash and toss it.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Yes, I'm not sure why people have a hard time with this concept. Its as if you are asking them to save the earth by saying this one little phrase. There was a woman hogging the aisle in front of the register where people normally come and go. I walked by her and politely said excuse me and she did move a little forward. She still had a good 3 feet between her and the person in front of her. When I came back with what I needed it looked as if she had taken one large step back making the space crowded again. I said excuse me and she did not move, I said it again and she still did not move, and so finally I said excuse me with more emphasis and she barely took half a step forward. I said loud enough, "really?" What a flipping #$#%#$#. You get the picture! Maybe it was due to her perfect outfit she could not get any closer to the register and the person in front of her. As she climbed into her new SUV, I couldn't help thinking that maybe karma would catch up with her today.

So why did she not move? Did she think that a pregnant person walking a toddler could squeeze in the small space behind her? As I start feeling as if I'm more of a waddling duck than a svelte sexy beast, I realize I need more space to waddle. It is amazing to me that a little future 8 pound baby could make doing the simplest tasks so difficult. Pulling out the laundry from the washer to the dryer is definitely a challenge these days. I really cannot wait to be agile again. It doesn't help either that our laundry space is tiny.

Maybe I'm venting about one stupid person of the day though. We all run into them from time to time and we constantly think about if we could have done something different. What if I had said "entshuldigen Sie bitte" which means the same thing, but in German? Would saying it in a different language had made more sense to her? I'm thinking not, but hey next time I run into some snobby middle-class #$%$#%, I'm going to try it! Now I have heard some people think the phrase "excuse me" is considered rude. Where I grew up it was considered something a polite person would do. It is better than elbowing someone as you walk by and saying "oh my apologies, I didn't see you hogging the aisle at all!"

I was once in the library where there are rows upon rows of glorious books hogging the shelves. I was in the back looking at this one small section of books when this lady came and stood right next to me. She was actually almost physically touching me as I stood looking at this one small section. I was dumbfounded she had the nerve to do such a thing. She was a bit older so maybe space was a new concept for her, but I couldn't help thinking she didn't have much patience if she needed to look at the same section of books. I would have loved to have heard "excuse me" then. Yes, I enjoy my space and no I'm not a hugger and when someone is breathing down my neck anymore, I have no issue in asking them if they could step back a bit. I do use my favorite phrase in asking them, but for whatever reason people get offended when you ask them politely you no longer want to smell their breath on your neck.

Sometimes the smell for a pregnant woman is so strong, you are ready to heave ho right there in the aisle and yes, I have used that so they are less offended. However, if you are not my husband I do NOT want you touching me. Best line I ever used when I was working in retail was "excuse me you are invading my territorial bubble." See thats what I need to start using again after all these years. Maybe thats a funnier way of saying "hey dude step back before I punch you." See I knew my venting would lead me to greater insight on something! I actually got the line from a movie called the Frighteners with Michael J. Fox. It is not exactly said this way, but I made the line my own and no one was ever offended by me saying it. They were just made aware they were too close for my comfort and come on its better than the Dirty Dancing line of my space and this is your space line. Best part of this scene is they actually use the words, "Excuse Me!"

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Have you ever seen the movie, "French Kiss" with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline? Meg Ryan is speaking with the concierge and she bluntly asks him "Do you enjoy being that rude? Because when you do that, it just gets underneath my skin and it makes me... completely insane." He replies with, Thank you, madam, for the fascinating lesson in our cultural differences." I absolutely love this scene. The concierge is completely deadpan when he delivers his comeback to a stressed out Meg Ryan. We have all been stressed out at one time or another and someone who is so cool, calm, and collected just makes us completely insane.

Besides the composed person which can drive us batty are the ones who whistle randomly. These whistlers will not even have a song you can recognize either, it is just random notes. I was in the store last week and thought I had moved away from the offending whistler when I find her following me down the aisle. I look back as if she had startled me and all she does is smile at my little girl and passes on by with no concept that I crave SILENCE. Yes silence...its what most moms dream about. We have all run across the loud cell phone talker in the store and it is amazing what insight you have into their lives by listening to their one conversation. It has been proven that when we get on the phone our voices will rise thus making the whole store privy to our life.

So back to silence. I read once where people are uncomfortable with silence and being by themselves. Are we not happy with ourselves? Do we need constant interaction? I was telling my husband how I had run into a mom at babies play group who basically told me her life story in a matter of an hour. I don't even think she came up for a breath of air. I literally could go into deep detail about why she stopped nursing at four months, how horrible her birthing experience was at the hospital, and some of her adoption history. Hubby told me she is probably lonely and yes thinking back I would have to agree. However, I really don't have the energy especially being pregnant for people who have energy vampire sucking skills. They can be quite draining and you do feel bad for them, but you realize that you can't be their listening box. You just can't!!!

Now what is hard is how to outmaneuver these vampires and to slip away easily. Maybe you need a drink a water, bathroom break, or to check on your child. Those are I think the best excuses to get away. However, these vampires are tricky and can easily rope you into another conversation. So try to engage another parent in a discussion and if you have to go into something crazy such as hyrdoponics or the latest craze in kombucha fermentation. Yep I think those subjects could be effective in creating distance. Do I need to add links in the how to make kombucha? By the way, I do think homemade is definitely better than store bought.

Anyway, silence is golden and if you come up with how to handle the whistlers, please let me know. I am so tempted to tell them they aren't very good at it. Maybe then just maybe they will get the hint that silence is the ultimate mommy heaven. Well unless you like the music group Garbage and enjoy one of their classics and you guessed it "Silence is Golden."

Monday, March 18, 2013

Do you have pets? Are those cute little creatures destroying your sanity now that you have little ones? Well if you said yes then you wouldn't be the first or last person to think "why in the world do I have animals anymore?" I used to dote on my two cats and they got rather spoiled to say the least. Its not their fault we had kids, but the time I have for them diminished significantly. The moment I sit down on the couch one of them wants to be in my lap and I admit I don't want anyone or anything to be on me when I finally get a much needed break.

Well as we prepare for the next baby and pull out the baby things, our one cat seems to enjoy the Arms Reach Co-Sleeper we plan to use. Now some of its my fault for allowing the cat to be in it after we were done using it for our little girl. My thinking back then was well at least I'm getting some sleep and the cat is not walking all over me on the bed. She did not even sleep in it for very long either. I cleaned it up and got ready to move it out of the bedroom when we found out we were expecting again. Fast forward to now where we made it all comfy for the next baby and the cat is in love with it again. I couldn't stop the cat from sleeping in it and I tried covering it with my old bathrobe and that I think just made it more enticing. I had heard about how cats will sleep in cribs and have heard about babies being suffocated. I don't know if any of those are true, but I know I don't want the cat in the co-sleeper where the baby sleeps.

After catching the cat in there for the third time in one week, I had HAD IT! I knew I better stop the behavior quickly before the new baby got here and I did not want to spend a lot of time cleaning the co-sleeper again. I asked around about what I should do and someone told me to use tin foil in the sleeper and that would keep the cat away. I was quite happy to try anything. Lo and behold, it WORKS! I can see where the cat has tried once to get into it and apparently did not find the tin foil to be comfy at all. So that is the tip of the week. If you are struggling to keep your pets out of the crib, try laying tin foil down. I plan to use the technique if I have to when the baby arrives. I really don't want to buy another baby gate to put on our bedroom door. I already feel like the house is one gigantic maze with gates all over. Best part of the tin foil is that its cheap and can be recycled when you are done using it!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Wait did I just make a hint about coconut oil being used for THAT?!? If you make that leap of what I am referring to then yes I in fact did! If Victoria Secret models can parade down runaways and give the glimpse of what regular men will never have then we can be honest about this subject. Although how in the world did Marko Jaric ever catch Adriana Lima, I will never understand. Have you seen him lately? He is not exactly Gerard Butler in 300 or Bradley Cooper so how in the world did he get her?!? Anyway, I digress and need to get back onto the real subject of coconut oil and its ummm many uses.

Lets be rational. If you were not made in a petri dish then you were conceived the old fashioned way. I know its hard to fathom our parents ever doing things like THAT, but come on you got here somehow. So how did I ever come across coconut oil making a leap from the frying pan into the bedroom? Well that is an interesting story in itself.

Now we all get colds, viruses, and infections where we must seek out medical attention. After the birth of my daughter, I came down with an infection and I kind of blame it on her long 23 hour birth. In fact, many women struggle with these infections and I had no idea birthing a baby could run you so ragged that you are more susceptible to colds, UTIs, and yeast. Well I tried the holistic approach and could not overcome my illness. It did not help that the usual handy tinctures I would have reached for to help me, I could not even use because I was breastfeeding.

So I landed in the doctors office not once, but three times to be exact. If the doctors had just listened to me as the patient, I would have been able to overcome my illness with one round of antibiotics. Instead, they kept upping the dose and changing the antibiotic on me. I told them what antibiotic served me well in this situation, but nope I'm just the patient and don't know anything. Well I came down with a yeast infection for the first time EVER and it was absolutely miserable. The over counter stuff does nothing to cure it either, it just masks the symptoms. I went to the supplement store completely embarrassed that I even had to ask them for a good probiotic that would help me.

The gal at the store wasn't even fazed by my question and even suggested a few other remedies and one of them being coconut oil. I thought it is worth a try and at that time, I would have done anything to clear it up. So besides hating the doctors for not listening to me, I was also sleep deprived due to having a new baby. It was not a great time for me. However, there are good things that can come out of bad situations and this was one of them. I had no idea that coconut oil was so versatile and so I started to research the benefits of coconut oil and how it was anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral.

Well lo and behold, I came across websites with people professing their love of it in the bedroom. WHAT?!? Are they flipping nuts? I mean seriously don't they make stuff specifically for that kind of fun? You can't go a week where you don't see the commercials for those proclaiming that this one kind of gel will rock your world. However, if you have ever looked at those ingredients on those gels they aren't exactly natural. So toss those chemicals out and grab that coconut oil to spice up your fun in the bedroom. If you are trying to get pregnant, it will not interfere either as some lubricants can. If you are reading this because you so desperately want a baby and are looking for ideas how to not to kill off those precious swimmers, then trust me and go with the coconut oil. It is definitely cheaper than anything they try to market to you online. I hope my one little suggestion will give you what you so desperately desire. I've been there and the road is not easy.

Besides the bedroom excitement, I have come across information that it will help with scars and stretch marks. I wish I had known about it when I was pregnant with my daughter too. Stretch marks plagued me during my pregnancy and I made my own concoction which ended up costing me a bunch of money. It did not help at all and my belly looked like a red roadmap. This pregnancy I decided to try coconut oil based on the reviews of some other pregnant ladies and it is absolutely amazing. It is healing the scars from the previous pregnancy and preventing new ones from developing. I am sure I will get a few stretch marks as I get closer to my due date, but so far the coconut oil is staving off most of them.

I do have pregnancy brain again and a couple of weeks ago, I grabbed a hot handle on the stove causing me to burn my finger. Hubby thought I was being real brilliant by the way. I iced it and hubby said to me more than once that it was going to blister. I think he sounded like a broken record at that point. After icing it, I thought what do I have to lose and I grabbed the coconut oil and kept putting it on the burn for most of the day. BAM it was gone and it did not burn or hurt much at all. This should have blistered and I agreed it looked bad. I had no problems with my finger the next day and you could not even tell I had burned it.

So overall coconut oil rocks! I ended up buying a rather expensive brand of coconut oil at the store which I will share with you. I really true believe you get what you pay for when it comes to quality. The one that was recommended to me is the Garden of Life brand. It is Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and 100 percent organic. I will probably stick with this one brand due to how well its keeping the stretch marks at bay. However, amazon has a great price on it too! Check it out and my best advice is to google coconut oil and to see the many benefits that this little oil provides. I even read how one mom uses it to brush her little girl's teeth. So just like vinegar, coconut oil has hundreds of uses too.

Monday, March 11, 2013

I have been discussing with friends and there is a common theme that we own too much stuff. It does not help that I'm in my nesting phase of the pregnancy and feel overwhelmed with how much we own. However, it takes time to get rid of things and with a toddler it is almost impossible to spend quality time going through necessary paperwork to get rid of. We actually had the babysitter here for a couple of hours so we could accomplish some of those cleaning tasks. Yes, we have tried to do it while she is around, but its almost impossible to get the task you set out to do completed.

Mine is mostly paperwork and its a constant fight to keep it out of the house. If you go to a show or any event, someone is handing you pieces of paper which you bring home. You might be interested in the article, but who has time to read it when you have a toddler running about? I would rather read a good book if I have the time and that hasn't happened lately I can assure you. I am too busy trying to prepare for the next baby and the thought I am going to have to devote time to get my hospital bag ready is somewhat daunting these days.

So why do we all have too much? I think letting go is the hard part. I found myself having moments of doubt about letting something be recycled or tossed into the trash. I forced myself to get rid of a couple of items and when I saw the results at the end, I was definitely happy with the decision. Now there are clutter books being constantly written and we spend lots of money trying to gain insight on how to declutter. A few years back I got rid of all those clutter books taking space and it felt pretty freeing. I did go to the library and read Don Aslett's "Clutter's Last Stand" and I have to admit it was probably the best declutter book I have ever come across. I cannot tell you how much junk we got rid of and sold that year because of that book. Don't worry it will be in the spoken mommy store if you need it.

Now you will regret a few things that you parted with and that is normal, but 99.8 percent of the items you will get rid of you'll never remember them. Don't let that .02 percent ruin a good toss. Yesterday, we remembered a nice stainless steel pot that we received as a Christmas gift and we never used. Yeah it would be handy now, but it is not going to stop me from purging things I never use. I hope the gal I gave it to found some good use out of it. She was pretty happy when I gave it to her so I'm betting these past few years she most likely used it more than I would have. That is my consolation during this whole process.

Now another item I plan to get rid of soon is the Black and Decker weed eater we bought a couple of years ago. We bought a new electric one a couple of days ago and bam I love it so much. It edges like no other and actually works! I'm not messing with the length of the string constantly and spending all my time fiddling with it. Time as you know is precious. There are a couple of other items in the garage that need to go too. Most of us have garages so we can leave our 30,000 dollar vehicles out in the street while we fill our garages full of junk. It is nice to park both our vehicles into the garage, but its a tight fit and I'm going to have to find time to go through that here soon. Hospital bag first though!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Don't forget to set your clocks one hour ahead when you go to bed tonight. I truly despise this tradition and it seems to get worse when you have kids. Last time I think it took us two weeks for us to get her onto the right time schedule. I actually want to live in Hawaii and Arizona just because they don't observe this antiquated idea. Now hubby and I have tried to go to bed a little earlier this week because we knew it was coming, but it still will affect us I'm sure.

Ben Franklin was a brilliant guy, but I really wish he had not come up with this idea. I know he probably didn't think that this one idea would cause more problems than what its worth. Some experts say it reduces people getting into car accidents, but I would like to disagree. Maybe it was due to all of us being sleep derived college students, but I had a guy back into me on campus on one springing forward event. He was not paying attention that I was behind him and I have to attribute that to a lack of sleep. I am already a sleep deprived pregnant lady with a young toddler in tow so I bet this is going to feel like a whole week hangover.

Well that is as much rant as I want to give to this subject. I will caution you to be careful out on the roads tomorrow and the following week especially if you have young ones in the car. If you are a coffee drinker, go ahead and get that extra dose of caffeine. I wonder if all the coffee places rejoice when these events happen. Maybe there should be a study about how much coffee is consumed after daylight savings time change. I BET there is an increase!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Do you feel like a zombie when you wake up? Barely functioning because you have not had your cup of brew. Do you know your body is craving more than a cup of coffee? During those restful hours, we actually sweat and lose water weight. Some research will tell you an average man can lose up to 2 lbs in just water. That's a lot of water when you think about it.

A few years ago, after having surgery and moving to another state, I was not paying attention to how much water I consumed. I became faint and ended up going to doctors to figure out what was going on. I was told I needed iron on one occasion and another suggested resting and doing more tests. One doctor figured out I was dehydrated and needed to drink more water. Crazy, huh? Well its true. We as humans don't get enough plain water. My husband has made the jokes that we are aquatic apes and no I don't plan to get into the argument where we come from, but I find it rather amusing.

Well my tip of the week when you wake up in the morning is to drink one glass of water even before you have your coffee. I have always tried to keep to this routine and sometimes I forget, but I can definitely tell in a few hours when I have not had a glass of water. Another interesting read is a book called You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty. It goes over why we need more water and honestly I don't think any of us gets enough. I believe this is the book that recommended drinking a glass before we go to bed and when we wake up in the morning. I think that is how my habit started.

If you are pregnant, you definitely need to be doing this. I have nurses as friends and they often tell me how pregnant women try to pawn off that mountain dew onto their spouses and claim its not theirs. Trust me they can tell just by looking at that little cup you bring back to them. I am sure they have seen it all. If you're serious about consuming water while pregnant then look into the Kleen Kanteen Wide Mouth Bottle. Its 40 ounces and I fill it up each night before going to bed. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I pour myself a glass and drink it. I might get a good halfway through the water bottle depending on how much I wake up. I have found it works better than bringing up my small kanteen water bottles and drinking from those. Sleep time is precious so no I do not advocate going all the way downstairs for a glass of water. Trust me this is more convenient.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Recently, a friend of mine posted on his facebook page about being called weird, but that he was just not their definition of normal. He took it all in good stride and felt it was just his friend being good natured. Its been a few days since he posted it, but I'm still bothered by it somehow. Maybe its pregnancy hormones flaring up. However, I find the word "weird" to be rather an insult instead of a good joke. Now I don't mind the words such as crazy, nut, and unique. They don't push the envelope for me somehow. Weird though I don't see as a compliment or mildly entertaining.

Maybe its because the town I grew up in had a very structured way of doing things and if you were not in the "IN" crowd then you were definitely weird or strange. I met my husband and moved away almost 19 years ago and I don't regret it at all. He really did expand my views of the world and introduced me to things I had never heard of. Now now now stop thinking dirty thoughts if you are. That is NOT what I meant.

I found myself these past few days listening to the theme song of Fushigi Yuugi and playing it for the baby. Yes, I was so fascinated with Japanese Anime at one time. I never knew it existed till I moved away. We didn't have Netflix and you could only find it in limited areas, but I managed to locate a comic store that carried the DVDs of this one storyline. It is a story about two young girls who travel back in time and they become separated. One is blessed with an easy going travel while the other is faced with much hardship. If you have not seen the series, I will leave it at that. However, I was fascinated and watched hours of this anime in subtitles.

Now my hometown, I am pretty sure would have considered this weird. They would not have understood why I wasn't watch Buck Roger movies or something similar. Now I do love my hometown, don't get me wrong. I just think they would not be into something quite so international. Maybe my kids will be international, who knows. I listened to a lot of French music with my daughter and now am listening to Japanese music with this one. I am interested in developing their language skills at a young age which is something I never had the opportunity to do. I really wish I was fluent in another language. A second language is definitely not considered weird in this day and age. Yes, we single language people secretly envy you two language speakers. If you speak more than two than you are just way beyond cool.

Kerri & her two girls

About Me

Hi! My name is Kerri and I am a mommy to two beautiful little girls. They really are my world and I wouldn't have it any other way. They definitely keep me busy! I use my research knowledge and education to search out the best parenting and household products so they can live in an eco-friendly and healthy home. Follow me as I work my way through the stages of being a parent!